We attended the Grand Opening of Jasper’s Off-Leash Dog Park in Kirkland, WA last weekend. The park was created through the hard work and dedication of KDOG – a group of volunteers and generous park sponsors – and is Kirkland’s first off-leash dog park.
The grand opening was somewhat chaotic because there were over 100 people and just as many dogs. Even with that many people there it didn’t feel too crowded. It was “chaotic” though because you had to watch your dog closely so they didn’t escape out of the gate when people were leaving (ahem! Chester)
The park was very nice. There is a big large dog area and a separate small dog area. The small dog area is about the same size as the one at Luther Burbank off-leash dog park or Golden Gardens. Both areas are accessed through one main gate.
The park is situated on a gently-sloping hillside. There is a grove of Alder trees in the back half of the large dog area and a few in the small dog area to provide shade on hot, sunny days. The surface is shredded bark.
There are poo bag stations but I only saw one small garbage can outside of the off-leash are and there is no water (be sure to bring your own). This park is very new though so perhaps they will bring in more trash cans and with more funding they can bring water to the park.
My dislikes of the park were:
- Parking is limited. You have to park on the street. That is fine for some of the spots but the “overflow” is forced to literally park in the street…as in blocking the lane. It’s is not a main street though so this is not a huge deal.
- The entrance into the park is a narrow path approximately 300 feet long (necessary because of the location of the park). KDOG has posted a rule saying that only one dog can be on the path at the time. I know when we were there, if we had waited until no one else was on that path, we would have never gotten into the park. It may not be an issue in the future though.
- THIS BIGGIE: YOUR DOG IS NOT ALLOWED TO WEAR ANYTHING BUT A FLAT COLLAR INTO THE OFF-LEASH AREA. That means no harnesses, slip collars, prong collars or the like. I have never heard of this rule at any other dog park.
You can read their reasoning behind this here but I disagree. Myself, and several other people who responded to my Facebook post about it (it was quite the debate), will not go to this park in the future because of this rule. People have been very vocal about disagreement with this rule but KDOG has responded that they will not reconsider the rule and that if you don’t like it you can go somewhere else (they said it nicer but basically). You can email them here if you want to have your opinion hear about this rule.
The bottom line is that this is a nice park. I would like to say I will never go back due to the no harness rule (it is necessary for Chester and Gretel to wear harnesses so I can snatch them up if they get too barky or in a skirmish). However, one our good friends lives near there so we will go back if she “makes us” 🙂 I had to buy Gretel a new harness just in case because she chewed the old one.
You can find the hours and directions here
SeattleDogSpot also wrote a great review of the park
Chester christening the park 🙂
Bruce Sherman says
January 30, 2012 at 8:25 PMWow, that’s a lot of unusual rules. Hard to agree about the harnesses, but what about all the other collars that might be regular collars for their dogs that aren’t allowed.
And, for example, my three doxies wouldn’t all be allowed at once with just one handler. I can understand that with three Pits, but Doxies?
And un-neutered males prohibited? Good luck with all of these. Thanks for the review.
AdventureJess says
January 30, 2012 at 8:38 PMI know. The two dog rule is weird too. I know several people with more than two Doxies. They feel like new parents to me keeping tight reins and control on the place. Not all of the rules seem practical or reasonable.
Dachshund Nola says
January 30, 2012 at 8:27 PMThat is a weird rule! I agree 100% with the no choke/prong collars, as I had the displeasure of seeing a dog nearly choke when it’s choke collar was caught in another dog’s mouth at our local dog park. But no harness or slip collars for Greyhounds, Whippets and Italian Greyhounds? That’s not fair at all! Nola’s harness is easy to take on and off, but still I’m much more comfortable grabbing her harness as opposed to her collar and hurting her delicate neck.
Dachshund Nola’s Mommy
AdventureJess says
January 30, 2012 at 8:40 PMI personally don’t believe in prong collars….at least not for most breeds. Since they stick our from the neck I see how they could get caught. I agree with you on the harness for sure. That is my reasoning exactly.
Tegan says
January 30, 2012 at 10:40 PMPretty sad to see that unneutered males are not allowed in the park. They excluded from so many venues, including doggy day care, boarding kennels, etc. What are entire dog owners to do? Lock their doggies up at home? A bit unfair.
AdventureJess says
January 30, 2012 at 11:19 PMI can understand the reasoning – that some dogs get aggressive with unneutered males around – but you are right, it does seem unfair and very limiting. Where does it stop because there are a whole slew of other reasons why dogs get aggressive at dog parks.
Amy says
January 30, 2012 at 10:46 PMLol…we just might “make” you go back! Great review. I really appreciate how you give both sides of the story, without backing down from your opinions.
AdventureJess says
January 30, 2012 at 11:17 PMThanks Amy. That is a great compliment.
Only you could “make us” go back. See what we do for you…compromise our principles. Ha, ha!
Kristine says
January 31, 2012 at 6:27 AMThe park itself looks gorgeous but I do agree that the rules are a little too discriminatory for my tastes. And perhaps too pretentious (no digging? really?) I understand the reasoning behind them – they want to create a park that prevents all of the common problems that normally crop up at dog parks. That’s fair. Unfortunately, they are excluding instead of educating and good dog owners like yourself are the ones suffering for it.
AdventureJess says
January 31, 2012 at 6:31 AMI agree. They do feel somewhat pretentious and are definitely exclusionary.
MyDogShampooStore.com says
January 31, 2012 at 2:58 PMGreat picture of Chester christening the tree!! I can’t believe they will not allow dog harnesses. There are so many owners that use a harness. This will stop some people from going. Other that than the harness issue it does look like a very nice park.
Hope you all had fun!
AdventureJess says
February 1, 2012 at 7:44 AMI already know a lot of people who won’t go because of that rule. Some Can’t go because they own more than two Doxies (limit of 2 dogs per person).
Mydogshampoostore.com says
February 2, 2012 at 2:38 AMSounds like this park has to many rules. I understand they need to have rules but only two dog and no harnesses. This makes it hard for people.
You can always bring your dogs to another park.
AdventureJess says
February 2, 2012 at 7:04 AMThey have been made aware of that but their response has basically been “oh, well…go somewhere else then”. I am beginning to think it is their ploy to keep the dog park from getting too crowded 🙂
Katie says
January 31, 2012 at 6:58 PMWhat weird rules – looks like all your snow is gone! I’m glad Chester got to mark the park 😉
AdventureJess says
February 1, 2012 at 7:39 AMYeah…snow is rare here in the city and it doesn’t last long. I was mostly gone three days after it stopped snowing. I would prefer it gone anyway when it gets dirty and ugly.
2browndawgs says
February 1, 2012 at 3:21 AMToo many rules. That is why we don’t do dog parks. The people who run them generally want to impose their morals on others. No e-collars? Why? Just the use of the term “shock” shows that the people who run this park have a bias and no idea about e-collar. What if you want to actually use the space to train? Guess not. It seems to me that people who run dog parks just want them to be places for dogs to socialize, and we would rather use our time to train.
AdventureJess says
February 1, 2012 at 7:37 AMYeah…dog parks are very limiting in a lot of ways. One rule I never follow (and I am usually one to follow rules) is the “no food”. I always sneak treats in because I do use the dog park to work on Gretel’s recall and the treats help me get her attention if she gets too anxious and starts chasing and yipping at other dogs too much.